Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Doodles to designs!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

As soon as I hold a pencil in my hand, I start doodling curvy, delicate patterns. Lines meander off across the page. Before I know it, I have designed another headpiece! It's not quite that simple but I love this part of my work!


I'm so inspired by natural patterns and forms. I won a wrapping paper design competition in school when I was 7 and have been a pattern addict ever since :-)

So yesterday, while researching/noodling over on Pinterest, I discovered the amazing photos of Anna Atkins; an English botanist and photographer (who may have been the first female photographer). Her Cyanotype technique involved laying plants on paper with a photo-sensitive solution and then exposing them to light. Look at that fern wreath. Isn't it beautiful?


I don't think it's possible to create patterns that are more beautiful or intricate than ones found in nature.

Anyway, these beautiful fern images reminded me of a piece I designed for a Christmas photo-shoot. Let's time travel back to December. Claire Barry from White Sage Events asked if I would like to design some jewels for a festive photo-shoot. Yes please! It's always a fun challenge to design something new.


The Theme was Luxe Christmas, with lots of gold and red elements. Claire wanted sparkle over bling which is right up my street! I've picked a few of my faves below but you can view lots more over on One fab Day.


The top design is a crochet beaded headpiece which is inspired by ferns. It can be woven into the hair in lots of different ways. The second design is called 'Gold waves'. Those delicious 1920's finger waves were the starting point for this piece :)



A big thanks to Lisa O'Dwyer for allowing me to feature her photos. The images were shot on film which gives a lovely quality to them. The dresses for the shoot were by Patrick Casey and Adah Lynch. Check  out more photos from the day via One Fab Day.


If you like these designs, have a look at some more of my recent bespoke pieces or get in touch if you'd like to chat about your ideas. I'd love to hear from you.


Credits:
White Sage Events - events company
Lisa O'Dwyer Photography
Anna Atkins photos via Wikipedia

2 comments:

Lisa O'Dwyer said...

beautiful work Aisling! I really love how the headpieces looked in the models dark hair! BTW, I've done some Cyanotypes like you've shown. You can buy photosensitive paper and arrange your objects on the paper and leave it out in the sun. Really fun!

Unknown said...

Thanks Lisa - I'd be really interested in seeing those cayanotype images that you made. I'm off to email you now!